A.W. Tozer - The Dangers of a Shallow Faith: Awakening from Spiritual Lethargy

Published by Regal
From Gospel Light
Ventura, California, U.S.A.
www.regalbooks.com
Printed in the U.S.A.

All Scripture quotation are taken from
the King James Version. Authorized King James Version.

2012 James L. Snyder.
All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tozer, A. W. (Aiden Wilson), 1897-1963.
The dangers of a shallow faith : awakening from spiritual lethargy / A.W. Tozer ;
compiled and edited by James L. Snyder.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8307-6204-0 (trade paper : alk. paper)
1. United StatesChurch history20th century. 2. Church renewal
United States. 3. RevivalsUnited States. 4. Religious awakeningChristianity.
I. Snyder, James L. II. Title.
BR525.T69 2012
269dc23
2012003610

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by Pastor Gary Wilkerson

Part I: The Dangers
Facing the Evangelical Church

Part II: The Challenges
Facing the Evangelical Church

Part III: The Path to
Overcoming These Challenges

The message from A. W. Tozer that you are about to read is one that so many in todays Church need to hear. God has called us in to a deep walk with Him, but many of us are just touching the surface. Not only does this book identify some of the issues that may be limiting our life in Christ, but it also encourages us to know God more fully. The truth of Tozers words will encourage us to not be comfortable with our current understanding of God. There is a fire that God wants to ignite and rekindle in us to search out the mystery of His will (see Eph. 3:9), which He has promised to reveal to those who seek Him.

Every time I ordain a minister or pastor to plant churches, I read these words that A. W. Tozer prayed on his ordination day:

I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven. Though I am chosen of Thee and honored by a high and holy calling, let me never forget that I am but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions that plague the race of men. I pray Thee therefore, my Lord and Redeemer, save me from myself and from all the injuries I may do myself while trying to be a blessing to others. Fill me with thy power by the Holy Spirit, and I will go in Thy strength and tell of Thy righteousness, even Thine only. I will spread abroad the message of redeeming love while my normal powers endure.

Even this small portion of Tozers prayer expresses the humility with which he approached his calling. There is no greater tone to set a venturing out in ministry than the sober yet faith-filled depths of Tozer. Very few men of God in history have been able to so explore the depths of God while enjoying the heights of His love.

Tozers writings, however, are not only for ministers. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a heart after God. Reverend James Snyder has done a masterful job of compiling these works to clearly express the depths and heights of Tozers writings, and I am thankful that he has put these works into a form that can be preserved for generations to come. These are words that shouldnt be lost in the archives of history but should continue to declare the relevant truth in our contemporary Church.

I pray that you will be blessed and challenged to grasp the very depths of Christ as you read this book.

With you in Christ,

Pastor Gary Wilkerson
President, World Challenge, Inc.
Lead Pastor, The Springs Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Throughout history, the Church has been inundated with self-proclaimed prophets. Whenever I hear of such people, I cant help but think of Gods command to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 18:22: When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

It is a dangerous thing for someone to claim to be a prophet. Of all the ministries set forth in Scripture, it is easiest to discern when a person is not speaking a true prophetic word from God. Perhaps Paul had this in mind when he wrote, Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints (1 Cor. 14:29-33).

Unfortunately, today it seems that many in the Church will accept any person who calls himself or herself a prophet. They hang on the individuals every word, regardless of whether what he or she says ever materializes. It is the oratory of the moment that matters. The prophets we find in Scripture, however, spoke words that actually came to pass. In the Old Testament, the prophets told of things to come; while in the New Testament they served as a form of troubleshooter for the Church, pointing out errors and heresies and then offering the solution in a way that pointed the group of believers back to Christ. They saw clearly, spoke sharply, and were rarely if ever appreciated for it. As Jesus said so eloquently, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house (Matt. 13:57).

When it comes to this kind of a prophet, A. W. Tozer stands out among the rest. He begins this book by stating that he will go out on a limb a little bit and prophesy. He relates that he can envision a time coming when those in the Church will desert evangelicalisma time when the house will be left desolate and there will not be a man of God, a man in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, left among them. It is safe to say that we have lived to see the beginning of this prophecy being fulfilled. And, unfortunately, like the true prophets of old, the evangelical church has heard Tozer but not listened to him.

Tozers criticism of the Church was never based on malice but rather on a deep love for the body of believers in Jesus Christ. He had a long view of the Church that was deeply rooted in biblical trutha truth that does not change over timeand he understood that many of the problems the Church were facing were ones his forefathers had faced several generations back. The old preacher in Ecclesiastes was right when he said, The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun (Eccles. 1:9).

For this reason, when Tozer saw things developing within a congregation that he believed was detrimental to its spiritual development, he got riled up and spoke out boldly against it. Yet he also always pointed the way out. He called the danger for what it was and then offered the group he was criticizing a biblical solution that was focused on Christ. In this book, the center of the danger that Tozer perceived was a shallow faith that led to spiritual lethargy. This spiritual condition made the Church vulnerable to an onslaught from the enemy.